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Zoe just posted this on her blog, which you surely read. I am re-posting it not merely as a show of support or to show up on her referrers list but because I’m totally going to go. You should too, because Philly is just a hop, skip and a jump away and Zoe’s work is some of the most interesting that one will ever encounter underneath a freeway.
Washington, 2007
A little over a year ago, John Szarkowski gave a fairly lengthy interview to Art in America. It was around the time of his retrospective and publication of related books and he was doing the rounds, which is sort of funny to think about considering who he is. In any case, in that interview, he says that James Agee’s essay at the start of Helen Levitt’s 1946 book A Way of Seeing is probably the best piece of writing on photography ever committed to paper. As soon as I read that, I went on eBay and secured myself a copy.
I haven’t read nearly enough of these to come to a conclusion on whether or not it’s the best but it certainly is an interesting read. I scanned it, so give it a look and hopefully a discussion will follow. Perhaps you other photography bloggers out there will share some of your hard to find essays.
I was at the National Gallery of Art the other day seeing the Jasper Johns thing and 
afterwards I was poking around in the book store, which is really the best part of the National Gallery, and I came across MEXICO by Martin Parr. It’s the best book ever. I love Martin Parr. I love Mexico. A union of these two forces is a mindboggling thing to witness.
Parr approaches our Southerly neighbor with the wit that has come to be associated with him. Looking at these colorful pages, it would seem that no bit of irony, not matter how minute, has escaped his lens. The books main themes deal with the globalizing Mexican society and the divides between traditional Mexican culture and Americanization, the rich and poor, the white and the non-white, are clear. Though, naturally, the work does not moralize. Instead, it just presents a the contrasts of a culture in transition, narrative in Red, Green and White.
Last night, Karl Rove came to speak at my school at a large group of students, including many of my friends, dressed up as detectives at went to the event to carry out a citizens arrest. Apparently the whole thing was hilarious and Rove’s bloated face was red with fury. You can read about it at NBC4. I was, of course, celebrating Passover with my family in Mont Claire, New Jersey so needless to say I was not able to attend the event. But that was kind of awesome in it’s own way.